Mallets

I started by just making one joiner’s mallet but as this was also a skill-building project (and a chance to work with some exotic hardwoods), I couldn’t make just 1…I made 6 (2 large, 4 small).

The first one I made was the padauk (love the smell) and I did the entire thing (including handle) with it. I wish the block had been a bit longer for shape/balance but it works very well and is the one I use the most (it is light but strong).

The next 4 I made were from the same 3×6x6 blanks but I cut them in half so I would make 2 of each. I had a block of mora (maybe related to osage orange?) and a block of orange agate (this stuff had crazy cool grain). I mixed my finishes—usually applying BLO or tung oil but I added a couple of coats of shellac and paste wax to 1 of each variety to polish them and dress them up a bit…

The last one was the biggest/heaviest—using bloodwood (though the last time I used bloodwood it had much more red/bleed to it. Still, this one came out the best and packs the most punch.

I mostly used maple for the handles though I used padauk on 2 of them. These were fun projects—now to give some away. I certainly don’t need them all.

Those are great looking mallets. I too, watched the Paul Sellers video. I bought a Piece of 12/4 hard maple and have enough to build 4 mallets. They are on my next to do list. I love all the exotic hard woods. What was the dimension of the handle?